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Comrades, in my speech I have already said that neither I nor my supporters consider it possible to accept this amendment. We must in no way tie our own hands in any strategic maneuver whatsoever. Everything depends on the correlation of forces and the moment when one or another imperialist country launches an offensive against us, on the moment when the restoration of our army, which is undoubtedly beginning, reaches the point where we will be in a position and obliged not only to refuse to sign peace, but also to declare war. I agree, in place of the amendments proposed by comrade Trotsky, to accept the following:

First, to state — and this I will absolutely defend — that the present resolution is not published in the press, but only an announcement is made of the ratification of the treaty.

Second, the Central Committee is granted the right to make changes in the forms of publication and content in connection with a possible Japanese offensive.

Third, to state that the Congress grants the Central Committee of the party the authority both to break all peace treaties and to declare war against any imperialist power and against the whole world when the Central Committee of the party recognizes the moment as opportune for this.

We must grant this authority to break treaties at any moment to the Central Committee, but this in no way means that we are breaking them now, in the situation that exists today. Now we must not tie our own hands with anything. The words that comrade Trotsky proposes to introduce will gather votes from those who are against ratification altogether, votes — for a middle line, which will again create a situation where not a single worker, not a single soldier will understand anything in our resolution.

We will now decree the necessity of ratification of the treaty and grant authority to the Central Committee to declare war at any moment, because an offensive is being prepared against us, possibly from three sides; England or France may want to take Arkhangelsk from us — this is quite possible, but in any case, with respect neither to breaking the peace treaty nor to declaring war must we constrain our central institution with anything. We give financial aid to the Ukrainians, we help in whatever way we can. In any case, one cannot tie oneself down with the condition that we will not sign any peace treaty. In an epoch of growing wars succeeding one another, new combinations are emerging. A peace treaty is a living maneuver — either we stand on this condition of maneuvering, or we bind our hands in advance so formally that we will not be able to move: we can neither make peace nor wage war.

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I, it seems, said: no, I cannot accept this. This amendment creates an insinuation, expresses what comrade Trotsky wants to say. Insinuations should not be placed in a resolution.

The first point states that we accept ratification of the treaty, considering it necessary to take advantage of every, even the slightest, possibility of breathing space before an offensive by imperialism against the Soviet Socialist Republic. In speaking of breathing space, we do not forget that the offensive against our republic continues. This is my thought, which I emphasized in my concluding remarks.